Isaac Asimov

American science fiction writer and biochemist, author of the Foundation and Robot series, who wrote or edited more than 500 books.

Sci-Fi

Notable work: Foundation

About Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov (c. 1920–1992) was born in Petrovichi, in what was then the Russian SFSR, and became a professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He wrote or edited more than 500 books and more than 380 short stories, and in his lifetime he was counted with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke as one of the “Big Three” of science fiction. Besides fiction he wrote mysteries and a large body of popular science, from chemistry and astronomy to guides to the Bible and Shakespeare.

The Foundation stories, first published in Astounding Science-Fiction between 1942 and 1950, follow the mathematician Hari Seldon, whose theory of psychohistory predicts the fall of a Galactic Empire; the first three books won a one-time Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series in 1966. His robot stories, collected in I, Robot (1950) and continued in detective novels such as The Caves of Steel, set out the Three Laws of Robotics, and the Oxford English Dictionary credits him with introducing the words “robotics” and “psychohistory.” His story “Nightfall” (1941) was voted the best science fiction short story of all time by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1964, and the standalone novel The Gods Themselves (1972) won the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards.

Where to Start With Isaac Asimov

Start with Foundation (1951), the first book on BookList4u's Foundation list, then Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation. Because the original trilogy was assembled from eight magazine stories, it reads as a chain of linked episodes spread across a long span of time rather than one continuous plot. Readers who want a single hero to follow should know that going in; readers who like ideas and political maneuvering will be at home.

If Foundation feels too abstract, try the robots first. I, Robot (1950) is a story collection, and The Caves of Steel (1954) pairs the Earth detective Elijah Baley with the robot R. Daneel Olivaw in a murder mystery. Reading a few Robot books before Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth pays off, because those later Foundation novels reach back to them.

How the Books Connect

BookList4u lists the seven Foundation novels in publication order: the original trilogy (1951–1953), the sequels Foundation's Edge (1982) and Foundation and Earth (1986), then the prequels Prelude to Foundation (1988) and Forward the Foundation (1993), which follow Seldon before the trilogy opens. The prequels were written last and lean on knowing what Seldon's plan produces, so publication order is the better first read. With Foundation and Earth, Asimov tied the series to his Robot books and Galactic Empire novels, which are set earlier in the same universe.